Firstly we would like to
thank you again for your support this
year.
Not an ideal
start to the Neave Twin’s 2016 racing
campaign, put hopefully the bad luck is behind
and now it is time to move forward to greater
things this season.
Silverstone hosted round 1
of the MCE British Superbike championship this
past weekend and Tim and Tom were set to make
their debut in the Pirelli National Superstock
600 class.
Friday
brought poor weather and the wet tyres were on
for free practice 1. It gave the lads chance
to re-familiarise riding in the wet
conditions. Qualifying one took place on
Friday afternoon, and the track had started to
dry, however very single lined and the
smallest mistake could have been the end to
the weekend. Tom got to grips pretty quickly
with the tricky conditions and ended up in
5th position; a great start.
However Tim struggled to find confidence
throughout and completed the session in
25th position, a very disappointing
result, knowing he was capable of been right
up there with his brother.
Saturday
brought sunshine and the track remained dry
for qualifying 2. Having completed a
successful test day at Silverstone a few days
previous, and ending up 6th in
class, Tim felt confident for a top 10 grid
position; with everyone rushing to get on
track at the same time, he got stuck behind a
group of slower riders, however not been able
to pass through all to get a fast qualifying
time in, and so laps were wasted and he ended
up in 19th position. There is a lot
to be learnt from this for future qualifying
sessions, so in that respect, it was a
valuable experience. Tom's first hit of bad
luck started in Q2, with an intermittent
electronic problem causing the bike to cut out
multiple times and ultimately stop before the
end of the session, and so ended up in
25th position.
Sunday
started with another damp and patchy warm up
session. The race was dry, and Tim made a good
start, over the course of the first 5 laps,
made his way up to 16th place and
was catching the pack in front. Unfortunately
the race was cut short for him when he was
taken out by a rider crashing on the inside of
him; thankfully not much damage other than
scuffed leathers and a gravel rashed fairing.
The bad luck hit harder for Tom, and his
engine blew up at the beginning of lap 2.
A hard
weekend to take in, but it is behind us now
and it there is so much to take from it, it’s
been a huge learning curve. We look forward to
getting back out on track for the official BSB
test at Oulton Park Friday 22nd
April and then round 2 the following weekend
also at Oulton Park.
The bikes
look great in the new livery and the van will
soon be in matching colours when we get the
stickers on.
Kind
Regards,
Tim and
Tom